1. Arrival of the Stranger

IT was a few days after Jade and Jackie had moved into Section 13. They hadn't yet gotten an alert of another Talisman to chase after, and Jade had been quiet. It was making Jackie nervous.

"Jade," he asked finally. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, since we have such a big place now, I was wondering..." Jade began, not really facing him.

"Yes?"

"The school is holding a foreign exchange student program, and they were looking for volunteers for the homestay. Can we Jackie, please?" She gave him her cutest begging face.

"Jade! We live in a secret underground government facility! We cannot host a homestay! What were you thinking?"

"That it gets kinda lonely here when you're at work and I'm back from school, since it's not like I can invite friends over...not that I even have any yet..." She glanced away, looking sad.

Jackie put his face in his hand, sighing. "Jade...it just won't work. We can't host a foreign exchange student when we live in an underground government facility." He walked to the door. "I hope this is the last I hear of this." He opened the door.

A boy Jade's age with blue eyes and black hair done in a pigtail was standing there, his hand raised to knock. He had a backpack on his back, and a suitcase towed behind him. He was wearing black kung fu pants, black shoes, and a red chinese style shirt. He looked up at Jackie sadly. "Does this mean...I'm not welcome?"

Jackie turned around, aghast. "Jade! Did you already sign us up without asking me?"

Jade chuckled nervously. "Maybe?"

Jackie looked down at the boy. "How did you get here, anyway?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders and gestured. "The stairs."

Jackie covered his eyes. "How did you get past everyone walking through the halls?" When he looked, there was no sign of the boy. "Where did you go?" He looked either direction down the hallway. When he looked in front of him, the boy was there again. "WAH!" Jackie patted his chest. "How did you do that?"

"Family secret Martial Art Technique," the boy said simply.

"Oh, so you're a martial artist? How skilled are you?"

The boy shrugged. "I know a few advanced techniques, and my form's pretty advanced, but I still have a lot to learn. My...father is...was training me to be the best."

Jackie sighed. He caught the hesitation. "I'll...talk this over with Captain Black, see what we can do. In the meantime, why don't you spend some time with my neice, all right? Try and keep the both of you out of trouble."

THe boy nodded. "Hai." He moved to go inside.

"What's your name?" Jackie asked.

"Ranma Saotome." Ranma smiled as he set his suitcase down.

Jackie went and found Captain Black. "Captain Black, I have...a small problem."

"Oh? What is it, Jackie? I'll do what I can to help."

"Jade signed us up to do a homestay for her school's foreign exchange student program! She expects us to host a boy in the middle of an underground base!"

Captain Black looked taken aback. "Well, you'll just have to cancel it, and-"

"He's already here!"

"How did he get inside?"

"The same way Jade did."

They both sighed. "Well, if he already knows about the place, I guess there shouldn't be a problem, as long as he doesn't tell anyone." Captain Black shook his head. "My superiors would give me hell if they knew about this. Our security system circumvented by not one but two children?"

"Well, I'll see what I can do to keep them out of mischef."

Back at the room, Jade was telling Ranma about what had happened recently.

"It turns out, the talisman granted the power of levitation, and I could make things float with my stomach!"

"Wow!" Ranma said, listening eagerly. "That sounds pretty cool! And there are eleven more that you're going to have to find and keep away from the bad guys?"

"Yep! THis is gonna be the best school year ever!"

"I'm envious," Ranma said sadly. "That sounds like fun."

"Why don't you come, then?" Jade said happily. "Two heads are better than one!"

"That'd be sweet!" They high fived. "But...will Jackie let us go?"

"Pfft! Let? Why should we need permission?"

Ranma laughed with her. It felt good to have a real friend after all this time.

"Hey, you said you knew some pretty advanced techniques. Can you show me?"

"Sure." Ranma stood up and took a stance. "This one is real useful." He threw a series of rapid punches, almost too fast to see. "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

Jade's eyes widened. "Cool!" Then she thought about the name. "What?"

Ranma panted a bit. "It's named for the training technique. 'Chestnuts Roasting over an open Fire.' Toss some chestnuts into a fire, then pull them all out without getting burned." He was lost in thought though. *That's wierd...one Chestnut technique never left me this tired...*

Jade noticed his exhaustion. "Looks like you overdid it with that one."

Ranma nodded. "Guess so."

Later that night, when everyone else was asleep, Ranma pulled a strange jewel out on a chain around his neck. He gazed at it for a time.

*A new life, huh? I wonder what will happen...* Shrugging, he slipped it back into his shirt, rolled over, and fell asleep.